Out of Aspen, South to Great Sand Dunes National Park

 8/22/11

Today we got to feel the excitement of hitting the road again after being stationary for a week, and the sadness of saying goodbye to family after sharing an amazing few days with them.  Fortunately we’re seeing everyone again within a month or two, so that helps with the goodbyes.

While we were at first hoping to head through Denver on our way out, we realized that it made a lot more sense to avoid all those interstates and take the more direct route through Aspen and then south toward New Mexico.  On the way out, we stopped by Ashcroft, an old Ghost town a few miles from Aspen up in a beautiful valley.

 A quick drive through Aspen to say goodbye, then out of town through Independence Pass up to the Continental Divide.  Our 33 year old bus did awesome all the way up the over 12,000 ft high pass!

 

 

 

There was lots of beautiful scenery on our way down south.  As we went, I got to see a part of the state I’ve never been to before, and it’s an interesting place.  On one stretch along 17, north of Great Sand Dunes National Park, we drove through a huge valley- beautifully caught in between two mountain ranges.  The road ran through the middle of the valley, with mountains on either side.  They were either 5 or 50 miles away; the scale was such that it was impossible to gauge.  The valley floor was dry, flat, and mostly empty, though every couple miles you’d see a little place someone called home.  Typically it consisted of one or two trailers and a small junk yard arranged in a circle.  Nothing but short, dry sage bushes separates one place from the next one two miles down the road.  At one point there was a large UFO watching station along the road.  It was well advertised and proudly proclaimed that the short tower and UFO statues were open 24/7.  A little way down the road was a huge, probably 100 acre solar array in the middle of nowhere.  I guess none of that is that unusual, it just felt odd, like you had no idea what was going to pop up next.

When ended the day at Great Sand Dunes National Park.  We hadn’t even intended on making it there, and honestly, I can’t remember ever hearing about the place.  We’re so lucky we ended up there, because the place is amazing.  Here’s the scene we got as we pulled in that evening.

That sort of looks like a mountain.  It’s not, its all sand, thousands of feet tall.

Our campsite for the night.

Time In Colorado

8-15-11 to 8-22-11

Lot’s of great stuff this week!  I won’t try to describe it all, but here are some highlights (some of which we have photos of, some we don't).

Early in the week, we got to see Ryan and Kathy again, and meet little Otis.

Rides in the Razor and Rhino’s around High Aspen Ranch.

Lot’s of great food!  Josh spoiled us as he always does, and Tun contributed some of her amazing cooking.

Fun in the clubhouse pool.

Swimming, biking, and eating at the Roaring Fork Club.

Music, snacks, and hanging out at the Farmers Market in Carbondale.

Got to see dad’s new house.  It’s beautiful.  They move in next week!

A concert on the ski slopes of Snowmass.  Company was great, music was so so.

Smores over the grill.

Lot’s of playing in the yard with Charlie Mae.

A word about that little girl you see in so many of these pictures.  That’s my niece Charlie Mae.  All little kids are special, and all moms, grandmas, uncles, fill_in_the_blank, are happy to talk about what makes their little one so special.  Allow me to add one more voice to the chorus.  Charlie has some uncommon kind of joy in her that’s so amazing to witness.  And she makes me melt every time I think about her.  She has a special kind of love that pours out of her, and I’m so excited to be able to watch how she’ll share that love with the world as she grows up.  We love you Charlie.

Mesa Verde, then Family!

 8/15/11

 

I love Mesa Verde.  I remember loving it the first time I came here as a little kid.  This was my third time here, and its effect over me hasn’t diminished.  It has a mythical feel to it.  You find yourself staring into the rooms and daydreaming about life here.  I like those kind of places.

Here's some of the gorgeous drive up to the Carbondale / Aspen area.

And the highlight of the day- making it to Dad’s place near Aspen and starting a week of family and friends!

Can you believe that view?  And that's only about 1/3 of it in the shot!

Grand Canyon to Mesa Verde

8/14/11

As those who have been there know, the Grand Canyon is pretty indescribable.  Pictures come closer than words, but still fall short.  Here are a few:

As I mentioned, Tun lived here for a few months when she was in college (she got back just a few weeks before we met in Thailand, in fact).  So it was fun for her to be back in a place she once called home and see and experience with new eyes- no longer a resident, but also not like every other tourist (myself included) who just rolls through for a couple days in his or her life.  Tun could’ve been in front of this cart 6 years ago:

Maybe not a glamorous job for a senior in college, but a great experience for her.  It was her first time to come to the States (or anywhere else outside of Thailand/Laos) and when she first arrived her English wasn’t that strong.  She was brave and smart enough to resist the temptation to live in a cabin with 80 other Thai students who came with her program, and instead lived in a dorm with a mix of American and international kids.  She learned the language well, and things about Americans, our culture, and work environment you can’t learn in a classroom in Thailand.

Tun in front of her previous home here.  How crazy is it that the employee housing is a 100 year old historic stone building a 100 feet from the canyon rim?

On our way to Mesa Verde, we chased an incredible storm, enjoying it’s lightning show from a distance.  We never caught it, but we witnessed it’s aftermath.

It slowed us down a couple hours, but we have hours to spare.  The slowly crawling traffic never allowed me to get away from the wheel and forced my first “Tun, find a cup for me to pee in” moment of the trip.  She did.  And I did.  Thanks Tun.

We stopped at the 4 Corners along the way.  The guy in the entrance booth, who was a Navajo, thought Tun was a Navajo also.  You may think that's a funny and perhaps surprising mix up, but it's so much more than that!  It's redemption!  Four years ago or so I was reading a magazine or something that had some old photos of some members of the Navajo tribe in it.  I told Tun that one of the ladies looked a lot like her, and ever since then I occasionally call her my little Navajo.  Cute?  Yes. Culturally insensitive and borderline racist?  Perhaps, until today!  Thank you man in the booth! 

Jokes aside (that is a true story, though) it is surprising how similar Thai, Lao, and Cambodian faces are to Native Americans.  That's not true of other Asian and even SE Asian people.  I often met people in Thailand, who, had I met them in SW America, I would have sworn were American Indian.